Dogs never criticize how you say the words.Byline: Mark Baker The Register-Guard Like a lot of us, Buddy enjoys a good story. Especially if he doesn't have to do any of the reading himself because, well, Buddy is a dog. He just has to remain awake so that ... oops. Too late. "I prefer reading to Buddy because he's a really nice dog," says 6-year-old Zane Hiam, a first-grader at Eugene's Hillside Alternative Elementary School elementary school: see school. . "The only thing I don't like is he sometimes falls asleep in the middle of stories." Hey, you Hey, You is the debut EP of Japanese band Mono. Track listing
would, too, if it was your job to listen to children read in a cozy corner of the Sheldon Community Center. But why is a 6-year-old boy reading to a black-and-white border collie border collie, breed of medium-sized, sheepherding dog developed in the British Isles. It stands about 18 in. (45.7 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs from 30 to 45 lb (13.6–20.4 kg). ? Because for some, reading in Eugene has gone to the dogs. And Buddy, you see, is a dog with PAAWS PAAWS Pet Anti-Aging Wellness System PAAWS People Advocating Animal Welfare Services (Moorhead, Minnesota) - People and Animals Who Serve. His owner, Creswell horse trainer In horse racing, a trainer is responsible for preparing a horse for races. As such, he takes responsibility for exercising it, getting it race-ready and determining which races it should enter. Lisa Shaffer, brings him to the community center every Thursday afternoon as part of a PAAWS program called READ (Reading Education Assistance Dogs) that aims to improve children's literacy skills by having them read to man's best friend instead of someone like you. People like you, after all - in fact, people in general - can be a tad critical sometimes. Even well-meaning adults. "Unfortunately, we as adults, as human beings, are always correcting each other," says Sandy Shaffer, the manager at the community center (no relation to Lisa Shaffer). Not Buddy. He is "the noncritical listener" in this endeavor, says Elaine Pray, who heads the PAAWS READ program. He doesn't correct a thing coming out of Zane's mouth as the boy reads from one of his favorite books, "A Visit to the Sesame Street Museum." It's a book Zane enjoys because Bert and Ernie Bert and Ernie are two Muppets on the long-running PBS children's television show Sesame Street. The two appear together in numerous skits, forming a comic duo that is one of the centerpieces of the program. check out some dinosaurs during this "Dog Tale Time" session. "He loves it," Lisa Shaffer says of Buddy and his listening to tales. "It relaxes him so much." And he not only gets to hear a good story, he can interact with the child by getting a good petting, or by just doing what dogs do: roll over on all fours, gnaw away on a good flea or, uh, pay a little too much attention to his southern region. "Not a good picture, dog," says Zane's grandmother, Karolynn Hiam, as a photographer manuevers nearby. PAAWS is a Eugene nonprofit organization Nonprofit Organization An association that is given tax-free status. Donations to a non-profit organization are often tax deductible as well. Notes: Examples of non-profit organizations are charities, hospitals and schools. that was launched in 2003 by five area women - Cindy Ehlers, Diane Nichols, Anne Kraft, Ina Dunlap and Pray. Before then, Ehlers and another woman, Sandy Arrington, were both registered with Delta Society Delta Society an international, non-profit organization promoting the human-animal bond through the use of animal-assisted activities and therapies. Pet Partners and were part of a crisis team that took their dogs to Thurston High School Thurston High School is located in Springfield, Oregon in Lane County. Their mascot is a black colt. Shooting On May 20, 1998, student Kipland "Kip" Kinkel killed his parents, William and Faith, both Spanish teachers at local high schools. after the tragic shootings in May 1998. Ehlers came away from that crisis with the feeling that animals could bring hope and healing during such crises, according to the PAAWS Web site. Ehlers would later take her dog to New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. with the American Red Cross American Red Cross: see Red Cross. to aid in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Today, some 40 PAAWS members and their registered therapy animals, including a few llamas, serve the community by visiting local hospitals, nursing homes and retirement centers. The READ program originated with a Delta Society affiliate in Salt Lake City, Intermountain Therapy Animals, Pray says. The program includes about 20 handlers and their dogs who visit the Eugene Public Library every Saturday afternoon, as well as the Sheldon Community Center, and Gilham and Bertha Holt elementary schools on Tuesdays and Thursdays as part of a Eugene Recreation Services after-school program. And if cat lovers are feeling left out, PAAWS' first-ever certified cat is about to make its debut, Pray says. Reading to a cat? Wouldn't a feline be a little indifferent to that? "I guess it depends on the cat," Pray says. READ PROGRAM Any child up to age 12 can sign up to read to PAAWS dogs from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. every Saturday at the Eugene Public Library (682-5450). Contact the Sheldon Community Center (682-5312) for information on the Eugene Recreaton Services after-school program on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contact Cindy Ehlers at pawspet@comcast.net if you're interested in certifying your animal. Volunteers are needed. |
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